Keeping track of a kitten, a kitchen, and trying not to be kitschy.

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This is deliciously simple and doesn’t require a lot of time in the kitchen. The smoked paprika salt is what sets this recipe apart, as it adds a wonderful depth to the vegetables. It’s a perfect weeknight meal that gives you leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch!

Quinoa with Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa

1 zucchini

2 carrots

1 red onion

1 red bell pepper

2 cloves garlic

Smoked paprika salt

Oregano

Olive oil

Directions:

Preheat toaster oven to 375F.

Prepare the quinoa according to directions (or: boil 2 cups water/veggie broth with 1 cup quinoa for 15 minutes, then let sit for 5 minutes and fluff with fork).

Drizzle olive oil into baking pan (8×8).

Chop veggies into bite size pieces and add to baking pan.

Mix veggies with hands so they’re coated with olive oil.

Sprinkle smoked paprika salt and oregano over the veggies, and toss again to coat.

This is adapted from a recipe at myrecipes.com. I tend to find a lot of my ‘quick and easy’ recipes there, mainly because I browse around when I’ve got some time on my hands. This is a nice recipe that’s super quick to make and isn’t expensive either. I generally don’t add the raisins, but you can definitely substitute in dried cranberries. Sprinkling some cheese over the top would be nice as well (I’m thinking parmesan).

Curried Couscous with Broccoli

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups water

1 cup uncooked couscous

1 1/2 cups small broccoli florets

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

1/3 cup shredded carrot

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup dry-roasted cashews, chopped

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon sugar (you can decrease this to taste)

1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder

1 teaspoon bottled minced fresh ginger

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed

Directions:

Bring 1 3/4 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan; gradually stir in couscous. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

While couscous stands, steam broccoli florets, covered, for 3 minutes or until tender.

I really like a poached egg over asparagus, so once I saw this recipe I knew I’d love it (I don’t remember where I got it from, but it’s a lot different from the original version). It almost surprises you with the flavor (the tarragon) and after the first bite you’re hooked. It also doesn’t take very long at all to put together, so it’s a great weeknight dinner. You can simultaneously poach the eggs while you’re letting the vegetables cook down. While they’re all cooking, make the vinaigrette so it’ll all be ready at the same time. I’d pair it with a nice crusty bread to soak up the delicious vinaigrette.

Oh! And I finally have a picture of the finished dish (pardon the quality, it was taken from RS’ iPhone)

I learned almost everything I know about cooking from my grandmother. One such cooking technique I perfected as a teenager was the coveted English Muffin Pizza. Three ingredients was all it took to make me and my brother happy: English muffin, sauce (pasta or pizza, whatever we had), and cheese. I have fond memories of those little pizzas.

Now that I’m a little more grown up (…I think), I’ve evolved the English Muffin Pizza into, so aptly named, the Pita Pizza. This guy packs a huge amount of vegetables into a very small circle, so I’d like to think it’s healthier than its predecessor. I don’t necessarily have a ‘recipe’ for this, but I’ll break it down a little bit.

Pita Pizzas

Ingredients:

Base

Pitas (I don’t cut them in half or anything like some recipes I’ve seen- they’re sturdier that way)

I officially roasted my first chicken last night! Since I only purchase organic meat, I saw that a 3-4 pound chicken was the same price as 1 pound of chicken breast… so I thought, “why not?” And I’m a cheapie (which is always an issue given that I also purchase mostly organic food).

As a side note, I have the biggest oven I think that has ever been in an apartment ever. Ever. This puppy is large… but takes forever to heat up and doesn’t bake evenly (it’s a ginormous gas oven). Therefore, I use a toaster oven for almost all of my baking, which is why you’ll see temperatures for both a regular oven and a toaster oven in most of the recipes here.

Anyway, I used the instructions from Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchn with only minimal modifications. I sprinkled garlic powder along with salt and pepper over the chicken before I put it in. I started with my toaster oven’s roasting pan, but it started smoking so I chopped some onions and put the bird in a square glass baking dish over the onions. The skin on the bottom was a little soggy but the skin on top was deliciously crisp. In the future I think I’ll try flipping the chicken halfway through to get both sides more crisp.

It took almost exactly an hour and the result was seriously the most delicious chicken I’ve ever had. It was so moist but so flavorful. Oh man, so good. If you’ve never roasted a chicken before, please try it. The worst part for me was trying to carve the bird, but The Kitchn comes to rescue there as well.

This is probably the easiest and tastiest way I know to cook and eat chicken. That and my love for zucchini means that this is one of my favorite recipes. You can definitely put this on skewers and grill it outside, but my sad, tiny grill cannot withstand the gusts of wind that buffet the roof deck every couple of minutes. I’m thinking about making a wind shelter for the little guy, but in the meantime I’ll continue to bake this in the oven.

This is great with a Greek salad, pita, tzatziki sauce, and/or hummus.

Chicken Souvlaki with Zucchini and Onions

4 Servings

Ingredients:

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

6-8 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 medium zucchini, diced

1 medium red onion, diced

Directions:

Oven: ~375 degrees Fahrenheit (Toaster Oven: ~350 degrees Fahrenheit)

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a container.

Add chicken to container and coat chicken in mix.

Marinate chicken in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Place zucchini and onions in a 9×13 inch pan.

Add chicken to pan and swirl everything around.

Bake uncovered for ~20-30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

I don’t remember where I found this recipe, but I’ve made it so many times that I don’t have to look at the recipe any more. It’s that good.

This vegetable lasagna is lighter and fresher than traditional lasagna, and the addition of pesto gives it its signature flavor. Don’t skip out on the pesto, and if you use regular pasta sauce, I’d recommend adding some dried (or fresh!) basil to the sauce mix.

It’s a perfect dish to make this time of year (late spring/summer), because zucchini is everywhere. Given that I’m slightly addicted to zucchini, you know I’m going to be making this recipe pretty soon. And then eating it for lunch for three days afterward.